ethnology

noun eth·nol·o·gy \ eth-ˈnä-lə-jē \

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Definition of ethnology

1 : a science that deals with the division of human beings into races and their origin, distribution, relations, and characteristics

2 : anthropology dealing chiefly with the comparative and analytical study of cultures : cultural anthropology

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ethnological

play \ˌeth-nə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\ or less commonly ethnologic play \ˌeth-nə-ˈlä-jik\ adjective

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ethnologist

play \eth-ˈnä-lə-jist\ noun

See ethnology defined for kids

Recent Examples of ethnology from the Web

Margaret began her master’s degree in ethnology and museum ethnography at Oxford and decided to stay and pursue her doctorate in cultural anthropology.

— m.a.c. lynch, courant.com, "Love Story: African Decathlete and American Rower On Love Safari," 10 June 2018
Once established as the autocrat, Hitler went back to reading nothing but trash ethnology and the westerns of Karl May, whereas Stalin went back to reading Dickens, Chekhov, Gogol, Hemingway, Zola, Balzac, Maupassant and Oscar Wilde.

— martin amis, New York Times, "Martin Amis on Lenin’s Deadly Revolution," 16 Oct. 2017
Kay Fowler, who also was at the Smithsonian, recovered Powell’s manuscripts from 1867-1880 at the ethnology bureau, and the two then collated, annotated and published them in 1971.

— alicia ault, Smithsonian, "Telling the Story of 19th-Century Native American Treasures Through Bird Feathers," 14 June 2017
Kay Fowler, who also was at the Smithsonian, recovered Powell’s manuscripts from 1867-1880 at the ethnology bureau, and the two then collated, annotated and published them in 1971.

— alicia ault, Smithsonian, "Telling the Story of 19th-Century Native American Treasures Through Bird Feathers," 14 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ethnology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.